


The Alchemist and The Goblin

by nonbinarywithaknife (littleboxes)



Series: me sobbing about critical role [7]
Category: Beauty and the Beast - All Media Types, Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Beauty and the Beast Fusion, Based on a Tumblr Post, Beauty and the Beast Elements, F/M, On Hiatus, nott finds it cute, yeza brenatto is a plant nerd, you will not take this from me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-23 18:58:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17689076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleboxes/pseuds/nonbinarywithaknife
Summary: Yeza stumbles into someon's garden and is invited in, to escape from the cold. He accepts. Little does he know what this decision will entail.





	1. he falls into a faints and falls into a rosebush (not necessarily in that order)

**Author's Note:**

> this was inspired by @watchtheantagonist on tumblr's post: (https://watchtheantagonist.tumblr.com/post/182591461982/i-have-a-million-other-things-i-need-to-do-and)

Yeza doesn’t realize that he’s stumbled into someone’s garden until he runs into a rosebush. He can still hear the howling of the wolves, but it gets fainter and fainter until it fades out entirely. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he takes in his surroundings fully. It’s hard to see, with the snow coming down so hard, but the thorns digging into his coat confirm that he’s partially in a rosebush. Around him there are overgrown hedges, though he can make out the form of a horse, and a… peacock? 

He doesn’t hear the footsteps until they’re right behind him, and he whips his head around. There’s a person standing in front of him, covered head to toe in a thick navy blue cloak. A white, cracked porcelain mask covers the bottom half of their face, and all he can see from above that is a pair of glowing yellow eyes. He tries to scramble backwards, but he’s caught on the rosebush and his hands are cut even deeper by the thorns. 

“No! I’m not here to- you can come in, if you want?” Yeza pauses at the sound of a high pitched, scratchy voice coming from behind the mask. Before he can decide what to say, the person speaks again. “I- um. We live over here, if you’d like? To stay? It’s been a while since- since there’ve been any visitors here,” the person continues, but quieter, and Yeza doesn’t think he’s being spoken to anymore, “Jester, at least, misses talking to people.”

Maybe Yeza really is touched in the head, as everyone back in Felderwin says, because accompanying this person is starting to sound like a rather good idea. The chill is biting, especially as he hadn’t dressed for blizzard weather. His legs are sore from all the running, and the cuts on his hands and arms from the thorns are really starting to sting. “Er- where did you say you live?” He asks, before he can talk himself out of it. The person starts, as if they’ve forgotten he was here, before pointing further into the garden. “Oh- Just, ehm, just over there.” 

Yeza turns to follow their outstretched hand, and sure enough, he sees an old, dilapidated looking castle, just barely visible through the snow. “Sure, why not? A castle, that’s fine,” he mutters, and the person tilts their head. “Do you- er. Want any help with.. escaping that?” They ask, and Yeza remembers that he is, in fact, currently residing in a rosebush. “Oh! Um, yes, thank you?” 

The person walks forward, and reaches out with a clawed hand. They make quick work of the bushes, and soon enough, Yeza’s free. “There you go!” They say, and they seem less nervous, now that he’s agreed to come with them. They proceed to lead him through the twisting paths of the garden, and Yeza can’t stop himself from trying to identify every plant he sees. It’s difficult, given that it’s winter, and most of them are buried under a thick layer of snow, but he manages to catch a few. He thinks he sees an amaryllis sumatra, but that’s ridiculous, because those are near impossible to find for anything less than an arm and a leg, along with your life savings. Although.. This is a castle, perhaps-? 

He stops himself there. This is not his home, and he doesn’t even know what his host looks like, let alone anything else. The only reason he’s even here is because he was stupid enough to wander close to a wolf den. Before he realizes it, they’ve arrived at the doors of the castle. The person pulls them open with surprising strength, given they’re only just taller than him, and gestures for him to center. Far from it’s outside appearance, the interior of the castle is almost, welcoming? Granted, it’s clear that not many people live here as would be required to keep it clean. He can see the cobwebs in the corner and cracks in the walls, but- the wall sconces are lit, giving the entry hall a warm glow, and the wide staircase before him is still impressively majestic. 

The person enters behind him, and calls out, “I’m back! And- I’ve got a guest?” The second part of their statement is phrased higher, almost like a question, but the fact that they called out at all surprises Yeza. Of course, it makes sense. One person couldn’t keep a castle this size as well kept as it is, but. It surprises him, the idea of an entirely staffed castle in the middle of nowhere, falling apart. 

_ What happened here? _ He thinks. The longer he muses on it, the more this whole situation puzzles him. The person turns to him and says, “You can take off your cloak, if you want. Er, the coat rack’s right there.” Before he can reply, he hears a loud _thunking_ sound from the direction of the staircase. He turns to look, and his mouth falls open. Coming down the staircase is a walking, talking wardrobe.  _ The cold has driven me mad. Or, maybe, I died? The wolves ate me, and I’m dead and dreaming, now _ , he thinks. 

And then the person beside him speaks. “Hello, Jester!” and the wardrobe talks back, "Welcome home Nott!"  


Yeza faints. 


	2. he meets some people

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yeza wakes up and meets some folks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it was a pain trying to figure what each of their roles was going to be, lemme tell u

Yeza wakes up slowly, blinking in confusion before he remembers what happened. He’s not on the floor of the entry hall, so, he was moved. The walls of the room around him are plastered in a bright floral pattern, though it’s slightly faded from age. There’s a wardrobe across from him, but thankfully it doesn’t appear to have a face. The bed he’s resting on is ridiculously comfy, actually, but as he looks to his right he sees a teapot and cup on the nightstand.  _ Oh, I could actually use some tea right about now _ . He grabs the pot and pours himself a cup- it’s still hot. As he’s raising the cup to his mouth, he hears, “You’re awake, that’s good. Jester’s very excited to meet you- all of us are, really, but her especially.” Yeza freezes, turning his head slowly to look at the teapot. On each side of the grey spout, is a big, pink eye. It’s mouth is set in a gentle smile. He sets the cup back down on its saucer with a shaking hand. 

So it wasn’t a hallucination brought on by the cold, then. “Um- Um. Hello?” he says, staring at the light grey teapot with a pastel pink lid with wide eyes. “Ah, yes. I imagine that it’s a bit surprising, having your teapot talking to you. I’m Caduceus, lovely to meet you.” It- he, says. 

“Erm- I’m Yeza?” He says, the pitch of his voice making it sound like a question. “Yeza,” the teapot says his name like he’s rolling it around in his mouth. It’s- surprisingly soothing, actually, “Nice to meet you. Nott’s in the library with Caleb, if you’d like to speak with her. I know she’s the one who brought you here.”

Yeza tilts his head in confusion. “Nott?” he says, before realizing that was probably the name of his host. “Oh, yes. Um, where is library, exactly?” 

Caduceus gives him directions, but he’s lost soon enough. He’d never thought about how  _ large _ castles really are on the inside. He’s wandering down a hallway that looks especially bad when suddenly a tall, shadowed figure appeared in front of him. He squeaked in fear and scrambled backwards. A gruff voice calls out, “Sorry! Calm down! I- ah,” the figure hops? Forward. Once it comes into the light, he sees it’s another piece of talking furniture- something he never thought would cross his mind- It’s a tall weapon, a staff, he thinks. The face attached to it has dark blue eyes, and appears to be grimacing at him. “I, er, didn’t mean to scare you. Why are you all the way over here?” Yeza doesn’t appreciate her suspicious tone, but the hope that she knows where the library is keeps his voice polite. “I’m sorry, but I seem to have gotten lost. Caduceus, the, ah, teapot tried to give me directions, but I’m not a very good navigator.”

The staff seems on the edge of replying when he hears a familiar _thunk_ _thunk_ coming from the other edge of the hallway. He sees a large wardrobe amble it’s way over. Jester, he thinks is her name. “Beauuu~~~! Come one, it’s time for you to stop brooding in dark corners and come hang out with us!! You kno- Oh! Hello! You’re the guest! Ooh, you’re very handsome, my name’s Jester, what’s yours?” Yeza blushes at the compliment- he’s been called a lot of things, but “handsome” wasn’t one of them. “My name is Yeza, and do you perhaps know where the library is?”

Jester does, in fact, know how to get to the library, and he ends up walking between the two women on the way there. Jester fills the silence with accented chatter, telling him about some of the other residents of the castle, though skirting around how they came to be in their current situation. “Oh yes, there’s Fjord, he’s lovely, and Yasha, she and Caduceus spend ages talking about flowers, and Molly, you’ll like each other I think.” 

Eventually, they reach the library. The large doors are open, and he has to stop and take a few deep breaths at the sheer volume of books he finds himself looking at. The beautiful wooden shelves only stop halfway up the enormous walls, with stained glass windows taking up the rest of the space. Bright sunlight covers the entry hall they’re standing in (how long was he out?) and it’s one of the most amazing things he’s ever seen. 

He snaps out of it when Jester calls out, “No-o-ott! Caleb! Where are you!?” Her voice echoes in the vast room, and after a few minutes, Nott and Caleb appear. For the first time, he sees Nott without her mask. Her rough looking skin is a dark green, and her ears are large, sticking out like a bats’. Her eyes are large, and the same glowing yellow he remembers, though there are thin reddish-brown slits in the middle. Her hair is long and straight, and the same shade of green as the rest of her. On the tips of her fingers are long, sharp looking claws. She’s still facing Caleb, waving her hands about to make a point, and he can see flashes of sharp fangs in between words. 

Caleb, a copper colored desk lamp hopping along beside her nods, before turning to them. “Jester, Beau, it appears out guest is awake?” Caleb turns to look at Yeza, his gaze heavy. “Hmmm. Please put every book back where you found it, or simply leave it on a table if you do not remember.  _ Do not _ rearrange my bookshelves,” the last part of his statement is directed more at Jester than Yeza, and the wardrobe giggles. 

Nott is rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. “So, um, hello? My name is Nott, which you probably know by now, and Caduceus will have dinner ready in a few hours. Um. I could show you around the library, if you like?”

After asking the question, she shrinks back a little bit, and Yeza is surprised to realize how endearing he finds her voice. He shrugs a little, and nods. “Er- if you wouldn’t mind? I- I’ve never seen such a huge library before! Do you, perhaps, have any books on alchemy?” he asks, as they break away from the others.

“Oh, yes, I think so. Over in the left corner, I think,” she replies, and they head off.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there we go! yeza and nott are finally spending some time together, and jester made a friend

**Author's Note:**

> -shoutout to me for having no impulse control  
> -i'm gonna try and update this weekly, i hope you like it


End file.
